Construction: Bangor County Down

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the progress made in taking forward the Queen's Parade project on Bangor seafront in County Down.

David Hanson: The Department for Social Development (DSD) were approached by North Down borough council, seeking support for a development scheme at Queen's Parade in Bangor town centre. The proposed scheme related to a mixed use development on land assembled by North Down borough council, but which was also likely to require the vesting of some additional land and properties to complete the site assembly. The scheme was designed by Karl Greenfarm Ltd., a consortium appointed by the council as their preferred developer.
	In October 2005, following some due diligence work, DSD announced that it was unable to support the scheme as then constituted, but agreed to work with the developer and the council to explore alternative options and to seek to resolve outstanding issues. Planning permission for this scheme was also subsequently refused by the Planning Service in the Department of the Environment.
	In September 2006, following a public consultation to examine some alternative proposals, DSD agreed to appoint specialist consultants to carry out a full retail capacity analysis, a transport analysis, economic appraisal, legal appraisal and urban design analyses of the options for the site.
	It would be premature to pre-empt the outcome of the work currently being undertaken by the Department's consultants but the report will be published later in 2007.

Public Transport: Disabled

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of Translink stations have disabled access; and what steps he is taking to improve disabled access to the Translink network.

Peter Hain: Translink confirm that 94 per cent. of their stations have disabled access.
	Translink also confirm that they have commenced a programme to upgrade stations farther and make them compliant with disability discrimination legislation.
	This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.

Roads Service

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  which public consultations the Roads Service of Northern Ireland and the Department of the Environment has conducted in the past 12 months on the location of new zebra and pelican crossings; what the time period was of such consultation; what steps were taken to ensure that nearby individuals and businesses were invited to participate in the consultation; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the document setting out the criteria used to determine the location of zebra and pelican crossings in Northern Ireland; what the requirements are for the minimum distance from which such crossings must be visible to oncoming motorists; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: The Chief Executive of Roads Service (Dr. Malcolm McKibbin) was asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to these questions. A copy of his reply, dated 4 May, is as follows.
	This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.
	 Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 4 May 2007:
	You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland two Parliamentary Questions regarding:
	1. which public consultations the Roads Service of Northern Ireland and the Department of the Environment has conducted in the past 12 months on the location of new zebra and pelican crossings; what the time period was of such consultation; what steps were taken to ensure that nearby individuals and businesses were invited to participate in the consultation; and if he will make a statement; and
	2. if he will place in the Library a copy of the document setting out the criteria used to determine the location of zebra and pelican crossings in Northern Ireland; what the requirements are for the minimum distance from which such crossings must be visible to oncoming motorists; and if he will make a statement.
	As this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of the Department for Regional Development's Roads Service, I have been asked to reply.
	I should explain that Roads Service's policy in relation to pedestrian crossings is to provide such facilities where there is an identifiable need and where the conditions at any potential site make it difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road. An integral part of the process is an assessment of the 'demand' and 'difficulty' of crossing the road at the location concerned. The initial part of our assessment process uses the number of pedestrians (the initial demand factor) and the volume of traffic (the initial difficulty factor) to give an indication of the potential 'conflict' at a site. The assessment of the need for a crossing is then supplemented using a scorecard, which assigns scores to various other 'demand' and 'difficulty' factors, including collision history at the site. This policy is designed to assess the need and to prioritise locations "where pedestrians encounter difficulties in crossing the road due to the high volumes of vehicular traffic. This is applied consistently and impartially when assessing all requests in Northern Ireland, so that available funding can be directed at those sites with the greatest need.
	Attached for information is a copy of our public information leaflet on Controlled Pedestrian Crossings (a copy will be placed in the House of Commons Library).
	There is no statutory requirement for Roads Service to formerly consult on proposals to construct traffic management features such as pedestrian crossings. However, our policy is to carry out informal consultations with the police and frontages along the length of road affected by any proposal. There is no set period for this consultation. The list at Appendix 1 details the locations of proposed zebra and pelican pedestrian crossings where consultations were carried out in 2006/07 financial year.
	The requirements for the minimum distance from which all types of crossings must be visible to oncoming motorists depends on the approach speed of vehicles in the vicinity of a proposed crossings and are detailed below.
	
		
			   All types of crossings—visibility requirements 
			 85 percentile approach speed (m.p.h.) 25 30 35 40 45 50 
			 Desirable minimum visibility (metres) 50 65 80 100 125 150 
			 Absolute minimum visibility (metres) 40 50 65 80 95 115

Water Charges

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2007, to the hon. Member for Meriden,  Official Report, column 894W, on water: meters, what the direct and indirect cost will be of providing water meters in the programme outlined.

Peter Hain: This matter is now the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Administration.

Africa: Forestry

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to promote sustainable forestry in Africa.

Hilary Benn: DFID is promoting sustainable forestry in Africa, with a commitment of over £70 million.
	£50 million was recently committed to initiate a Congo Basin Forest Trust Fund. £11.5 million is being provided by DFID over the next three years to Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). DFID has also committed £12 million over the next four years to support African countries under the European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. Ghana, with DFID assistance, is in formal FLEGT negotiations with the EU, the first country in Africa to do so.
	DFID works closely with the private sector and NGOs. For example, a "Tree Aid" initiative in Burkina Faso will soon be supported by the DFID Civil Society Challenge Fund. DFID is supporting NGOs in Uganda to monitor forest sector governance. NGOs are also participating in the DFID-funded 'Democratic Republic of Congo Roundtable', together with the World Bank. This is generating alternatives to industrial logging, including new forest management and financing systems. DFID funds an NGO piloting participatory forest mapping and zoning work in DRC which will help inform the design of alternatives.
	DFID also supports the Rights and Resource Initiative, an international consortium including NGOs, which facilitates pro-poor forest policy, tenure and market reforms in Africa.

Africa: Water

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what projects his Department is sponsoring to increase access to clean water and sanitation in Africa.

Hilary Benn: DFID is on track to double its commitment to water and sanitation in Africa, where the Millennium Development Goal target on water and sanitation is most off-track, to £95 million a year by 2007-08. We will then more than double funding again to £200 million a year by 2010-11.
	DFID works at various levels. DFID:
	helps African governments to implement their own plans to increase access to clean water and sanitation, and provides direct financing to projects and technical know-how. Examples include our partnership with UNICEF in Nigeria, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. In Ghana DFID delivers increased access to water and sanitation through support to German, Danish and Dutch governments' programmes. DFID also provides indirect support to increased water and sanitation through projects such as the Girls Education Programme in Nigeria. DFID is currently developing a £100 million programme of support to water and sanitation In Ethiopia and a £35 million programme in Sierra Leone;
	supports African organisations to be more effective, DFID is providing £6 million of technical assistance to support implementation of the African Development Bank's ambitious Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative;
	takes action at the international level. DFID's "Call for Global Action" on water and sanitation, with one annual report, one high level global meeting, one national plan, one coordination group and one UN lead body will ultimately lead to more effective and efficient delivery of water and sanitation projects.
	Further details of DFID's support for access to water and sanitation can be found in the report "Financial Support to the Water Sector 2004-06", and in the brochure "Meeting our Promises" and the "Fighting Poverty and Managing Water Goes Hand in Hand" leaflet. Copies of these have been placed in the Library of the House.

Developing Countries: Road Safety

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department is conducting research into road safety in low-income and middle-income countries.

Gareth Thomas: DFID has a long history of working with the UK Transport Research Laboratory on issues relating to global road safety. Early research helped bring the magnitude of the problem to the attention of policy makers. DFID supported research included the publication of the widely used Towards safer roads in developing countries'. This work continues through DFID research department funding of the global Transport Knowledge Partnership to conduct new research and disseminate best practices.
	DFID also funds transport and road safety research at the World Bank through the Trisp programme—Transport and Rural Infrastructure Services Learning and Sharing Partnership, which has included work on road safety.

Food Aid

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to support the new world food programme UNICEF ending child hunger and undernutrition initiative.

Gareth Thomas: The UK has worked hard to support and improve the design of the ending child hunger and under-nutrition initiative (ECHUI) through its close relationships with UNICEF and the world food programme (WFP).
	In particular we have encouraged a stronger emphasis on country ownership, involvement of all key partners and better coordination with existing initiatives in the field of hunger and nutrition. Over time the initiative has rightly strengthened its focus on advocacy—to encourage efforts by host governments to direct their national policies to target child hunger and under nutrition.
	The initiative is a global, regional and country level coordination mechanism, so funding will largely come from existing budgets. In 2006, DFID was thesecond largest donor to UNICEF providing £105 million and the fifth largest donor to the WFP providing £56 million.

Overseas Aid: Environment Protection

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the £800 million environmental transformation fund is additional to previously committed overseas development aid.

Gareth Thomas: The environment transformation fund is being established to support development and poverty reduction through environmental protection and to help poor countries respond to climate change. The Chancellor announced that £800 million would be spent over the three financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11 to supplement the budgets of relevant departments, to be managed by DFID and DEFRA. DFID's departmental expenditure limit for those years will be announced in the autumn as part of the Government's settlement of the comprehensive expenditure review. The fund will form part of the Government's delivery of its overseas development assistance (ODA) commitments. The Government has set a clear timetable to reach 0.7 per cent. oda/gni by 2013.

Bus Services: Concessions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce a national concessionary bus fare scheme which ensures that all pensioners have the opportunity to travel across national borders within the UK.

Gillian Merron: The Concessionary Bus Travel Bill, currently before Parliament, contains a power to allow, via future regulations, for mutual recognition of bus passes across the UK. The Department has had initial discussions with the devolved Administrations about the proposal. All have indicated support but we would need to work together to resolve the various technical and resource issues before mutual recognition could be pursued.
	In the mean time, local authorities in England already have the flexibility—which the Bill does not change—to offer more than the statutory concession to their residents, taking into account local circumstances, for example, free travel in the vicinity of the local authority, which could include, across borders.

Driving: Licensing

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving license applications were supported by false identity documents in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: Statistics recording the numbers of suspect identity documents detected by DVLA have been kept since July 2005. Between July 2005 and March 2007, 3,026 driving licence applications have been detected which were supported by suspected false identity documents.
	Statistics are not available on the number of driving licence applications that were supported by false identity documents over the last five years. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) reports suspect identity documents to the police and other appropriate authorities for investigation.

Highway Code: Cycling

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what account was taken of the views of cyclists in the consultation process for the new Highway Code.

Stephen Ladyman: Over 4,000 individuals responded to the consultation. About 70 per cent. of the responses were from cyclists. In view of the level of interest from cyclists I met with Emily Thornberry MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group on 7 September 2006.
	In response to the views raised by respondents to the consultation, the rules for cyclists were amended. Some 30 other rules throughout the "Highway Code" were revised to add emphasis to the need for consideration of cyclists by other road users.
	The view expressed by some that the "Highway Code" should omit the non-mandatory advice to cyclists about wearing helmets or high visibility clothing, was considered to be inappropriate on the grounds of the safety of cyclists. All road users have some responsibility for their own safety.

Speed Limits

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to reinstate the requirement for local councils to have his approval before introducing 20 miles per hour speed zones.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department encourages and supports using 20 mph zones in areas where vehicle speeds of 20 mph are considered appropriate. Local authorities are best placed to understand local needs and conditions. Therefore there are no plans to reinstate the requirement for local authorities to seek approval before introducing 20 mph speed limit zones.

Speed Limits

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has conducted or reviewed on the relative effectiveness of part-time and permanent 20 miles per hour zones; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: 20 mph zones are required to have traffic calming within their perimeter and are self-enforcing. Part time 20 mph speed limits tend to cover a single road only. The choice of which option to use is a matter for individual local traffic authorities.
	TRL conducted two reviews of 20 mph zones in 1996 and again in 1998. The 1996 review found that self enforcing 20 mph zones achieved an average 9 mph reduction in vehicle speeds, annual accident frequency fell by 60 per cent. and the overall reduction in child accidents fell by 67 per cent.
	The 1998 review looked at wider urban speed issues and included 20 mph zones and 20 mph limits where there was lesser or no traffic calming. This found reductions in vehicle speeds were minimal when only speed limit signs were used.
	No specific assessment has been made of the relative effectiveness of part-time 20 mph speed limits and 20 mph zones.

Agriculture

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people were employed in agriculture in each of the last 10 years, broken down by county.

Barry Gardiner: Total agricultural and horticultural employees and total labour force and by county in England for 2002 to 2006 can be found in the following tables.
	These are the figures which are most readily available.
	 Notes:
	 (a) Employees are salaried managers, full, part-time and casual workers, (paid and unpaid).
	 (b) Since the annual June survey is now based on a sample estimates have been made for those not surveyed or not responding.
	 Source:
	June Agricultural Survey
	
		
			  Total agricultural and horticultural labour force in England by county/unitary authority 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees 564 543 544 497 499 
			 South Teesside 515 509 533 531 481 
			 Darlington 509 (1)— 501 517 473 
			 Durham CC 4,243 4,084 4,193 4,118 4,155 
			 Northumberland 5,892 5,707 5,536 5,535 5,521 
			 Tyneside 470 437 470 442 427 
			 Sunderland 172 (1)— 171 184 169 
			 West Cumbria 4,311 4,185 4,311 4,363 4,497 
			 East Cumbria 8,956 8,711 8,839 8,777 8,825 
			 Halton and Warrington 649 627 659 691 529 
			 Cheshire CC 9,173 8,783 9,017 9,048 8,834 
			 Greater Manchester South (1)— 993 1,002 903 906 
			 Greater Manchester North 1,923 1,738 1,809 1,822 1,863 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 362 (1)— 355 347 356 
			 Blackpool 79 (1)— (1)— 68 61 
			 Lancashire CC 12,605 11,733 12,010 11,934 11,890 
			 East Merseyside 517 508 534 486 569 
			 Liverpool (1)— 80 87 (1)— 90 
			 Sefton 303 288 298 296 342 
			 Wirral 275 (1)— 281 (1)— 255 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 20 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 7,859 (1)— 7,736 7,440 7,285 
			 North and North East Lincolnshire 2,179 2,110 2,211 2,114 1,909 
			 York 789 (1)— 736 (1)— 711 
			 North Yorkshire CC 19,731 19,000 19,557 19,234 19,140 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 2,828 2,686 2,758 2,666 2,674 
			 Sheffield 580 544 579 583 572 
			 Bradford 1,257 1,199 1,247 1,283 1,231 
			 Leeds 1,462 1,349 1,412 1,340 1,339 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 3,705 3,443 3,626 3,610 3,634 
			 Derby 55 56 56 58 69 
			 East Derbyshire 1,621 1,536 1,582 1,560 1,548 
			 South and West Derbyshire 6,163 5,920 6,132 6,137 6,198 
			 Nottingham (1)— (1)— (1)— 25 (1)— 
			 North Nottinghamshire 3,609 3,541 3,682 3,760 3,526 
			 South Nottinghamshire (1)— 1,758 1,810 1,756 1,724 
			 Leicester (1)— (1)— 49 41 24 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 6,477 6,318 6,486 6,490 6,450 
			 Northamptonshire 4,703 4,485 4,615 4,509 4,632 
			 Lincolnshire 17,462 16,763 16,840 16,787 16,103 
			 Herefordshire, County of 9,048 (1)— 9,370 (1)— 11,024 
			 Worcestershire 7,840 7,558 8,015 7,716 7,513 
			 Warwickshire 6,695 6,381 6,726 6,504 6,247 
			 Telford and Wrekin 787 748 772 800 808 
			 Shropshire CC 10,887 10,513 10,985 11,120 11,022 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 104 (1)— 109 (1)— 123 
			 Staffordshire CC 10,475 9,599 9,851 10,074 9,887 
			 Birmingham 70 73 88 139 102 
			 Solihull 432 (1)— 419 (1)— 403 
			 Coventry 138 (1)— 148 (1)— 138 
			 Dudley and Sandwell 124 122 133 141 106 
			 Walsall and Wolverhampton 180 165 168 158 162 
			 Peterborough 573 545 567 546 564 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 8,614 8,031 8,541 8,649 8,584 
			 Norfolk 15,871 15,048 15,518 14,652 13,575 
			 Suffolk 10,785 10,208 10,683 10,621 10,293 
			 Luton (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Bedfordshire CC 3,089 2,627 2,742 2,704 2,515 
			 Hertfordshire 3,399 3,086 3,176 3,047 3,011 
			 Southend-on-Sea (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Thurrock 255 (1)— 225 (1)— 206 
			 Essex CC 10,119 9,590 9,679 9,576 9,395 
			 Inner London—West (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Inner London—East 59 (1)— 76 (1)— 63 
			 Outer London—East and North East 445 407 457 456 424 
			 Outer London—South 562 486 410 400 369 
			 Outer London—West and North West 240 230 239 232 220 
			 Berkshire 2,218 2,210 2,388 2,511 2,451 
			 Milton Keynes 441 (1)— 440 412 456 
			 Buckinghamshire CC 3,693 3,492 3,703 3,742 3,618 
			 Oxfordshire 5,331 5,018 5,212 5,159 5,180 
			 Brighton and Hove (1)— 90 97 (1)— 80 
			 East Sussex CC 5,168 4,935 5,129 5,188 5,177 
			 Surrey 4,733 4,317 4,562 4,507 4,524 
			 West Sussex 7,556 7,172 7,376 7,490 7,409 
			 Portsmouth (1)— (1)— (1)— 11 (1)— 
			 Southampton 49 45 48 48 39 
			 Hampshire CC 9,078 8,850 9,343 9,157 9,015 
			 Isle of Wight (1)— 1,683 1,685 1,652 1,607 
			 Medway 480 471 459 (1)— 659 
			 Kent CC 15,946 14,934 16,118 15,656 16,424 
			 Bristol, City of 105 81 93 97 82 
			 North and N E Somerset, South Gloucester 4,376 4,156 4,290 4,302 4,284 
			 Gloucestershire 8,215 7,845 8,192 8,138 8,110 
			 Swindon 394 (1)— 372 (1)— 376 
			 Wiltshire CC 7,072 6,716 6,870 6,899 6,847 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 76 74 78 81 65 
			 Dorset CC 7,427 7,273 7,707 7,657 7,493 
			 Somerset 13,225 12,514 13,043 13,147 13,117 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 14,808 14,116 14,780 14,342 14,246 
			 Plymouth 39 (1)— (1)— (1)— 45 
			 Torbay 81 (1)— 79 90 102 
			 Devon CC 23,898 22,966 23,857 23,872 23,241 
			 England 371,824 354,381 367,490 364,891 361 ,027 
			 (1) Suppressed to prevent disclosure of information about individual holdings.  Note : Data for 2002, 2003 and 2005 are complied from a large published datasets; these are treated each year to ensure confidentiality across every geographical level from country to ward hence the differing pattern of suppression in those years.  Source: June Agricultural Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Total employees on registered holdings in England by county/unitary authority 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees 167 146 144 122 119 
			 South Teesside 183 187 198 204 180 
			 Darlington 131 (1)— 120 121 110 
			 Durham CC 978 888 923 869 845 
			 Northumberland 2,211 2,056 1,847 1,879 1,775 
			 Tyneside 194 176 185 154 145 
			 Sunderland 87 (1)— 90 91 83 
			 West Cumbria 1,077 944 1,018 1,079 1,052 
			 East Cumbria 2,090 1,956 2,035 2,075 2,004 
			 Halton and Warrington 288 281 303 341 199 
			 Cheshire CC 3,142 2,888 3,002 3,039 2,786 
			 Greater Manchester South (1)— 394 382 305 317 
			 Greater Manchester North 442 367 400 387 410 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 66 (1)— 63 60 51 
			 Blackpool 31 (1)— (1)— 19 13 
			 Lancashire CC 4,830 4,290 4,455 4,427 4,442 
			 East Merseyside 211 204 230 194 274 
			 Liverpool (1)— 74 81 (1)— 81 
			 Sefton 146 139 149 154 181 
			 Wirral 113 (1)— 123 (1)— 92 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 9 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 3,709 (1)— 3,610 3,446 3,359 
			 North and North East Lincolnshire 950 895 982 926 791 
			 York 255 (1)— 220 (1)— 215 
			 North Yorkshire CC 6,173 5,733 6,071 5,893 5,692 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 871 785 801 759 766 
			 Sheffield 167 139 155 165 154 
			 Bradford 258 216 221 228 225 
			 Leeds 631 540 596 539 521 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 821 726 782 752 800 
			 Derby 20 19 19 22 27 
			 East Derbyshire 410 351 369 350 346 
			 South and West Derbyshire 1,464 1,350 1,441 1,452 1,399 
			 Nottingham (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 North Nottinghamshire 1,609 1,584 1,685 1,763 1,501 
			 South Nottinghamshire (1)— 773 828 811 751 
			 Leicester (1)— (1)— 34 29 12 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 2,279 2,238 2,290 2,316 2,256 
			 Northamptonshire 1,594 1,447 1,514 1,446 1,529 
			 Lincolnshire 9,163 8,755 8,749 8,844 8,288 
			 Herefordshire, County of 3,578 (1)— 3,807 (1)— 5,279 
			 Worcestershire 3,198 3,074 3,405 3,169 3,058 
			 Warwickshire 3,041 2,881 3,126 2,962 2,679 
			 Telford and Wrekin 342 320 328 314 293 
			 Shropshire CC 3,218 3,024 3,174 3,412 3,368 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 20 (1)— 18 (1)— 14 
			 Staffordshire CC 3,277 2,654 2,767 3,015 2,938 
			 Birmingham 19 24 36 91 46 
			 Solihull 137 (1)— 130 (1)— 111 
			 Coventry 43 (1)— 42 (1)— 36 
			 Dudley and Sandwell 58 54 57 64 44 
			 Walsall and Wolverhampton 65 61 67 66 55 
			 Peterborough 274 258 266 266 258 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 4,329 3,833 4,335 4,583 4,540 
			 Norfolk 8,325 7,776 8,111 7,393 6,539 
			 Suffolk 5,157 4,712 4,982 4,986 4,715 
			 Luton (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Bedfordshire CC 1,339 930 1,002 1,015 835 
			 Hertfordshire 1,638 1,343 1,391 1,286 1,237 
			 Southend-on-Sea (1)— 0 0 0 (1)— 
			 Thurrock 116 (1)— 93 (1)— 86 
			 Essex CC 5,104 4,705 4,740 4,708 4,633 
			 Inner London—West (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Inner London—East (1)— (1)— 61 (1)— 51 
			 Outer London—East and North East 281 246 290 294 266 
			 Outer London—South 345 275 203 206 212 
			 Outer London—West and North West 120 114 118 109 97 
			 Berkshire 1,125 1,146 1,267 1,338 1,294 
			 Milton Keynes 160 (1)— 158 145 155 
			 Buckinghamshire CC 1,279 1,146 1,267 1,301 1,155 
			 Oxfordshire 2,125 1,903 2,041 2,003 1,934 
			 Brighton and Hove (1)— 60 62 (1)— 44 
			 East Sussex CC 1,843 1,714 1,766 1,747 1,683 
			 Surrey 2,414 2,109 2,317 2,286 2,318 
			 West Sussex 4,660 4,351 4,488 4,622 4,494 
			 Portsmouth (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 0 
			 Southampton (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Hampshire CC 4,488 4,343 4,677 4,461 4,196 
			 Isle of Wight (1)— 916 897 870 824 
			 Medway 356 334 311 (1)— 527 
			 Kent CC 10,103 9,204 10,215 9,814 10,553 
			 Bristol, City of 76 50 56 53 30 
			 North and N E Somerset, South Gloucester 1,364 1,221 1,263 1,258 1,199 
			 Gloucestershire 2,918 2,704 2,891 2,832 2,833 
			 Swindon 149 (1)— 120 (1)— 118 
			 Wiltshire CC 2,675 2,413 2,520 2,556 2,441 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 34 30 35 35 19 
			 Dorset CC 2,808 2,815 3,080 3,082 2,825 
			 Somerset 4,343 3,886 4,216 4,235 4,047 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 4,323 4,010 4,350 3,924 3,827 
			 Plymouth (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 12 
			 Torbay 16 (1)— 12 17 27 
			 Devon CC 6,353 5,884 6,302 6,179 5,452 
			 England 146,585 135,293 143,059 141,868 137,252 
			 (1) Suppressed to prevent disclosure of information about individual holdings.  Note: This data has also been treated to ensure confidentiality when cross referencing with figures complied from published datasets.  Source: June Agricultural Survey

Animal Welfare: Legislation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support he plans to offer the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in order to implement the operation of prosecutions for animal cruelty and offences under the new animal welfare legislation.

Ben Bradshaw: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has not approached my Department seeking support in relation to the conducting of prosecutions under the Animal Welfare Act. In giving evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee, the RSPCA estimated that the Act would lead to about an extra 100 prosecutions a year, for which they were confident they would find the necessary resources.
	DEFRA fully recognises the importance of the RSPCA's contribution to animal welfare and welcomes their positive engagement in the implementation of the Act. As part of this engagement, RSPCA officers attended the recent series of training events run by DEFRA on the changes to the law that would be brought about by the Act.

Chocolate: Packaging

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action has been taken on the use of excess packaging in Easter eggs.

Ben Bradshaw: The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is providing technical and financial support to retailers to help identify ways of reducing the weight of primary packaging, mainly through research and development and innovative packaging design. WRAP is also conducting research to establish public attitudes towards Easter egg, and other confectionary, packaging.
	There are already examples of some supermarkets that have successfully minimised the packaging on their own brand Easter eggs while still increasing sales. My Department will continue to engage with retailers and the food industry to reduce the amount of packaging waste generated by the industry itself and by consumers.
	The requirements of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2003 (as amended) apply to all packaging and a system already exists to fine businesses for using excess packaging.
	The Essential Requirements Regulations require that all packaging placed on the market in the UK should be manufactured so that volume and weight are limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain necessary levels of safety, hygiene and consumer acceptance for the packed product. These regulations are enforced by Trading Standards officers and a number of companies have already been prosecuted for using excess packaging.
	The Packaging Regulations have led to decreases in packaging used around products. However, more still needs to be done to reduce the amount of packaging and packaging waste generated. We have asked the Advisory Committee on Packaging to work with industry to find solutions to this problem and recommend ways of encouraging businesses to further reduce the amount of packaging they use.
	WRAP is currently working with retailers through the 'Courtauld Commitment', a voluntary agreement which aims to halt packaging growth by 2008 and make absolute reductions in packaging waste by 2010. 13 major retailers, representing 92 per cent. of the UK grocery sector, have already signed the agreement as well as three major brands.
	Each retailer signed up to the Commitment has been developing its own programme of work with WRAP to reduce packaging and packaging waste. A number of retailers have now made announcements setting their own specific performance targets on waste and other environmental issues.
	Several food and drink brands and manufacturers, including some confectionary manufacturers, have now also signed up to the Courtauld Commitment. WRAP will shortly be announcing further details.

Departments: India

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Ministers in his Department have visited India in the last 12 months; on how many occasions each Minister visited India; and what the length was of each visit.

Barry Gardiner: This Government publish an annual list of Cabinet Ministers' travel overseas costing over £500 along with the total cost of all ministerial travel. Information for 2005-06 was published on 24 July 2006 and is available in the Library of the House. Information for 2006-07 will be published as soon as it is ready.
	All travel is in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers.

Departments: Public Expenditure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the future funding of his Department's science budget.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department's R and D budget has been stable over this comprehensive spending review period at £146 million per annum. The sum in future is unknown, but it is our hope and expectation that this level of funding will be maintained through the comprehensive spending review 2007 period.

Departments: Sexual Harassment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints of sexual harassment have been investigated in his Department in the last 12 months; and how many complaints have been upheld.

Barry Gardiner: The figures for this information relate to core DEFRA and the following agencies PSD, CSL, VMD, CEFAS and Animal Health.
	The internal formal equal opportunities complaints procedures are on DEFRA's intranet site, and all staff have access to them.
	Under the aforementioned procedures, in the last 12 months, no complaints of sexual harassment were made, investigated or upheld.

Inland Waterways: Repairs and Maintenance

Charlotte Atkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many miles of canal and inland waterways will not be dredged in the 2007-08 financial year which were previously planned to be dredged.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 3 May 2007
	The three DEFRA-sponsored navigation authorities (British Waterways, the Environment Agency and the Broads Authority) are not making any cuts to their dredging programmes for 2007-8. In fact, there may be more dredging carried out than planned. For example, the Broads authority has put in place an enhanced dredging programme.

Lighting: Waste Disposal

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with  (a) local authorities,  (b) the Environment Agency,  (c) the Health and Safety Executive and  (d) the waste industry regarding the safe disposal of energy efficient lightbulbs; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 24 April 2007
	 From 1 July this year, energy efficient light bulbs that are separately collected will need to be disposed of in accordance with the requirements of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2006. The regulations require producers to finance the collection, treatment and recycling of WEEE, including energy efficient light bulbs.
	The WEEE regulations have been the subject of extensive consultation with all interested parties, although there have been no separate discussions on energy efficient light bulbs.
	Guidance on "Best Available Treatment, Recovery and Recycling Techniques and Treatment of WEEE" is available on the DEFRA website.

Packaging: Waste Disposal

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions his Department has held with retailers on the reduction of packaging waste.

Ben Bradshaw: The Government have already introduced two sets of regulations to encourage producers (including retailers) to minimise, recycle and recover packaging and reduce packaging waste.
	The packaging regulations have helped to reduce the amount of packaging used around products. However, more still needs to be done to reduce the amount of packaging and packaging waste being generated in the first place. We have asked the Advisory Committee on Packaging to work with industry to find solutions to this problem and recommend ways of encouraging businesses to further reduce the amount of packaging they use.
	My Department continues to engage with retailers and the food industry to reduce the amount of food and packaging waste generated by the industry itself and by consumers. In particular, DEFRA's Food Industry Sustainability Strategy (FISS), published in April 2006, challenges the food manufacturing sector to reduce its own waste by 15-20 per cent. by 2010. 13 major grocery retailers (representing 92 per cent. of the UK grocery sector) have also signed up to the 'Courtauld Commitment', agreeing to work with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in order to:
	(i) design out packaging waste growth by 2008;
	(ii) deliver absolute reductions in packaging waste by March 2010; and
	(iii) identify ways to tackle the problem of food waste.
	Each retailer signed up to the Commitment has been developing its own programme of work with WRAP to reduce packaging and packaging waste. A number of retailers have now announced their own specific performance targets on waste and other environmental issues.
	In addition, several food and drink brands and manufacturers, including some confectionary manufacturers, have now signed up to the 'Courtauld Commitment'. WRAP will shortly be announcing further details.
	WRAP also provides technical and financial support to retailers and suppliers through an Innovation Fund. This is helping to identify ways of reducing the weight of primary packaging and the cost of production and transportation, mainly through research and development and innovative packaging design.
	Importantly, DEFRA, working with WRAP and the devolved Administrations, has recently secured the agreement of UK retailers to reduce the overall environmental impact of their carrier bags by 25 per cent. by the end of 2008.

Sewers: Urban Areas

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the guidelines and performance standards are for sustainable urban drainage systems.

Ian Pearson: Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) comprise of a variety of techniques ranging from source control to infiltration, conveyance and storage features.
	The Building Regulations part H provide guidance on the incorporation of SUDS in drainage systems, stating that the preferred option for surface water drainage should be to an adequate soakaway or other infiltration system. It is clear that SUDS systems are most effectively implemented in the context of a strong planning framework. We consider this will be helpful in successfully engaging developers, prospective owners/managers of SUDS systems, and the providers of related services.
	The Department of Communities and Local Government are working closely with DEFRA, and have recently strengthened the planning context through Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk and the introduction of the concept of Surface Water Management Plans. Detailed information on SUDS design and performance considerations can be found in the CIRIA publication C609 "Sustainable drainage systems—hydraulic, structural and water quality advice", published in 1992, and the CIRIA publication C697 "SUDS manual", published in 2007.

State Veterinary Service

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimate he has made of the cost of merging the State Veterinary Service, the Dairy Hygiene and Egg Marketing Inspectorates and the Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service.

Ben Bradshaw: The Hampton Review recommended the consolidation of DEFRA inspection and enforcement functions into seven thematic regulators, with one of those regulators being a new Executive Agency for Animal Health and Welfare, with the State Veterinary Service (SVS) at its core. DEFRA Ministers subsequently determined to merge the Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate, the Egg Marketing Inspectorate, and the Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service with SVS to create such a body. The Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate joined SVS in October 2006, and the Egg Marketing Inspectorate and WLRS joined on 1 April 2007. The new enlarged agency was then re-named to Animal Health.
	The cost of collating the mergers was approximately £200,000 which was predominantly internal staff costs. The indirect costs are difficult to quantify. For example, there would be an opportunity cost for staff working on the Hampton project as opposed to other areas of work, but as to what these were it would be very difficult to provide figures against.

State Veterinary Service

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the  (a) mass and  (b) value of existing letterheaded stationery from the (i) State Veterinary Service, (ii) Dairy Hygiene and Egg Marketing Inspectorates and (iii) Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service; and whether the existing stationery will continue to be used after the merger of those agencies into Animal Health.

Ben Bradshaw: The Hampton Review recommended the consolidation of DEFRA inspection and enforcement functions into seven thematic regulators, with one of those regulators being a new Executive Agency for Animal Health and Welfare, with the State Veterinary Service (SVS) at its core. DEFRA Ministers subsequently determined to merge the Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate, the Egg Marketing Inspectorate, and the Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service with SVS to create such a body. The Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate joined SVS in October 2006, and the Egg Marketing Inspectorate and WLRS joined on 1 April 2007. The new enlarged agency was then re-named to Animal Health.
	The mass and value of extant letterheaded stationery from State Veterinary Service is:
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 27,0375 blanks for SVS letterheads 451.31 
			 2,385 blanks for SVS business cards 186.03 
			 5,450 blanks for SVS compliment slips 136.25 
		
	
	These are minimum quantities kept in stock under an SLA agreement between DEFRA and the printing provider to ensure a five-day turnaround for stationery orders.
	EMI, DHI and WLRS have never operated with their own personalised stationery, but used standard DEFRA stocks. As a result, any stocks of pre-printed DEFRA stationery can be used up by DEFRA and therefore not wasted.

State Veterinary Service

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on outside consultants on the  (a) rebranding and  (b) merger of the State Veterinary Service and other bodies concerned with animal health; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Hampton Review recommended the consolidation of DEFRA inspection and enforcement functions into seven thematic regulators, with one of those regulators being a new Executive Agency for Animal Health and Welfare, with the State Veterinary Service (SVS) at its core. DEFRA Ministers subsequently determined to merge the Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate, the Egg Marketing Inspectorate, and the Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service with SVS to create such a body. The Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate joined SVS in October 2006, and the Egg Marketing Inspectorate and WLRS joined on 1 April 2007. The new enlarged agency was then re-named to Animal Health.
	The cost of employing outside consultants for  (a) re-branding the enlarged Agency is approximately £40,000, and  (b) for the merger to a single organisation is nil, since no such consultants were used in this element.

Departments: Sick Leave

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many people took sick leave for stress in his Office in the last 12 months; and what percentage of the total staff number this represents.

Peter Hain: No Wales Office staff have cited stress as a reason for sick absence in the last 12 months.
	In line with the DCA/MoJ policy we shall be renewing guidance to staff on identifying and tackling possible causes of stress in the workplace.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the agreed whole time equivalent number of his Department's staff is in each  (a) Ministry of Defence hospital unit and  (b) NHS trust; which of these are not provided at 100 per cent.; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The term 'whole-time equivalent' (WTE) refers to the number of full-time staff equating to the amount of 'trust protected time' that the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency (DMETA) contracts to provide to an NHS trust. 'Trust protected time', for which the trust is charged, is expressed as a percentage of the annual activity of the individual service personnel who are posted to the trust. The rest of the individual's time is designated as 'military protected time' (for which the trust does not pay) and may be used on operational deployments or training.
	The WTE numbers given as follows are therefore much lower than the numbers of military medical personnel actually employed by the trusts concerned. The numbers reflect the current contractual position (which in some cases is subject to further consideration and negotiation). For example, over 120 military medical personnel are employed, in a wide range of roles, by the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust which hosts the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine. But the total number of WTE provided under contract to that trust is 20, including only one nursing WTE provided for the military managed ward at Selly Oak (although 26 military medical personnel are currently assigned there and the number is being increased).
	The contracted WTE numbers of DMETA clinical staff employed at present under current contracts at each Ministry of Defence hospital unit (MDHU), rounded to the nearest whole number, is as follows:
	
		
			Number 
			 MDHU Deniford Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 93 
			 MDHU Flimley Park Frimley Park Hospitals Foundation Trust 70 
			 MDHU Northallerton South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust 64 
			 MDHU Peterborough Peterborough and Stamford NHS Foundations Trust 110 
			 MDHU Portsmouth Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 153 
		
	
	The approximate WTE number of DMETA clinical staff employed at present under current contracts at other NHS trust hospitals are as follows:
	
		
			  NHS trust hospital  WTE 
			 Ashford and St. Peters, Chertsey 1.55 
			 Birmingham City 1.5 
			 Chelsea and Westminster 0.75 
			 Chelmsford 2.0 
			 Chichester 0.3 
			 Coventry and Warwick 2.0 
			 Darlington 1.5 
			 Eastbourne 0.75 
			 Edinburgh 0.70 
			 Frenchay, Bristol 0.75 
			 Good Hope 0.75 
			 Harrogate 0.37 
			 Heartlands, Birmingham 0.75 
			 John Radcliffe, Oxford 3.8 
			 Newcastle 1.0 
			 Nottingham 0.5 
			 Royal Devon and Exeter 0.75 
			 Royal London 0.75 
			 Selly Oak, Birmingham 20.0 
			 Sheffield 0.75 
			 Southampton 1.0 
			 Swansea 0.75 
			 Swindon and Marlborough 0.75 
			 Winchester 0.75 
		
	
	In accordance with contractual terms and conditions, DMETA provides the resource required to achieve 100 per cent. of the WTE, either through provision of military medical personnel or through the funding of any shortfall that requires the NHS trust concerned to employ locums or agency staff. Such funding offsets the payment made by the trust for the employment of military personnel.

Departments: Disciplinary Proceedings

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many grievance procedures have been initiated in his Department in the last 12 months.

Derek Twigg: Statistics on the numbers of MOD civilian staff who initiated the departmental grievance procedure at the informal or formal grievance stage in the last year at unit level are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. At the grievance appeal stage, civilian staff can either appeal to a higher level of line management, or to an independent Grievance Appeal Panel. The number of appeals heard by higher line management is not held centrally. The number of independent Grievance Appeal Panel hearings arranged between January and December 2006 was 58.
	Different grievance procedures apply to service personnel. Under the Army Act 1955, the Air Force Act 1955 and the Naval Discipline Act 1957, a service person who thinks themselves wronged in any matter relating to their service may make a complaint about that matter, which may be considered by the Defence Council, unless resolved at a lower level.
	Complaints not resolved informally or at Commanding Officer level (level one) are shown in the following table for the period January 2006-December 2006.
	There are currently differences in the manner in which the services define and record formal complaints, which means that a direct comparison is not possible.
	 Formal complaints: January to December 2006
	The figures show the number of formal complaints that have been raised to either Higher Authority (level two) or Service Board (level three).
	
		
			   Number 
			 Royal Navy 69 
			 Army 202 
			 RAF 72 
		
	
	In respect of the Royal Navy and the RAF, these figures differ from those which my right hon. Friend the Member for Islwyn (Mr. Touhig) gave in answer to your similar question on 18 April 2006,  Official Report, columns 624-25W. This is because numbers were provided for complaints that had been considered at both levels two and three, resulting in some complaints being recorded twice.
	The following table shows the correct figures for 2003-05 collated on the same basis as those for 2006.
	
		
			   Royal Navy  Army  RAF 
			 2003 126 176 120 
			 2004 120 192 97 
			 2005 103 194 97

Nuclear Weapons

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what definition he uses of vital interests in the context of protection by possession of a nuclear defence capability.

Des Browne: The White Paper "The Future of the UK's Nuclear Deterrent" (Cm 6994) published in December 2006, makes it clear that we would only ever contemplate the use of our nuclear deterrent in extreme circumstances of self defence. It also explains that we deliberately maintain ambiguity about precisely when, how and at what scale we might contemplate using our nuclear deterrent as we will not simplify the calculations of any potential future aggressor.

Parachute Regiment: Stress

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment post-operational stress programme; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Post-operational stress management forms part of the Army's duty of care and consists of four phases; Decompression, Normalisation, In-Service Support and Aftercare.
	The Decompression period (phase 1) undertaken by elements of 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) was spent in Cyprus. It comprised of briefings and an opportunity for personnel to relax prior to returning to the UK to allow them to adjust to non-operational working conditions. The majority who undertook the decompression saw it as beneficial.
	The Normalisation period (phase 2) consists of post-operational tour leave. This is now complete for 3 PARA as all individuals have returned to normal in-barracks work (or to civilian life, for de-mobilised reserves and TA). Phases 3 and 4 (In-Service Support and Aftercare) continue throughout an individuals' service career and into retirement.
	The unit are satisfied that the arrangements under the post-operational stress management programme are proceeding well.

Trident

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the United States Administration has sought any  (a) technical and  (b) diplomatic reassurance that Trident D5 nuclear missiles provided under a leasing contract by the US Navy to the UK could never be targeted at United States assets.

Des Browne: As long standing allies with mutual defence obligations under the terms of the North Atlantic treaty, the United States Administration has not sought any technical or diplomatic reassurances that UK Trident D5 missiles would never be targeted against United States assets.

Asylum: Somalia

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the number of failed asylum seekers from  (a) Iraq and  (b) Somalia in the UK on 1 April.

Liam Byrne: As my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary set out in his evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 23 May 2006, no government has been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally, and that remains the case.

Burglary

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the proportion of distraction burglaries committed by travellers.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is not available. While the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office contain the number of distraction burglary offences recorded by the police no details are available in relation to the alleged offender.

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in his Department who participated in  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 1997-98 were paid between (i) £0 to £25,000, (ii) £25,001 to £50,000, (iii) £50,001 to £75,000, (iv) £75,001 to £100,000 and (v) over £100,000; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: This information is not held centrally and can be obtained at only disproportionate cost.

Humberside Police: Emergency Calls

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average response time was for an emergency call by the Humberside Police Force in each of the last three years.

John Reid: Data on emergency call response times for individual police forces is not compiled centrally. This is an operational matter for the chief constable of Humberside police.

Police: Public Appointments

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration his Department has given to the election of police officials.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary announced a review of policing on 27 March this year. Led by Sir Ronnie Flanagan the review will focus on four specific areas of policing—including local accountability. We are not ruling any options in or out at this stage—we look forward to receiving Sir Ronnie Flanagan's recommendations.

Young Offenders: Unemployed

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds convicted of an offence in the last three years for which figures are available were not in education, employment or training; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Data relating to the educational, employment or training status of young offenders upon conviction is not recorded centrally. However, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has a performance indicator to ensure that 90 per cent. of all young people supervised by youth offending teams are in suitable full time education, training or employment at the end of their Order. This data is published in the YJB annual statistics and is available on their website:
	www.yjb.gov.uk/

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many arms export licences were issued to  (a) India,  (b) Bangladesh,  (c) Tanzania,  (d) Ghana,  (e) Nigeria,  (f) Uganda,  (g) Malawi,  (h) Indonesia,  (i) Vietnam,  (j) Kenya and  (k) Mozambique in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government publishes detailed information on their export licensing decisions, including the number of licences issued by destination, in their Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. Copies of these are available from the Libraries of the House and at:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk?servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerates/ShowPage@c-Page&cid=l007029395474.
	The 2006 Annual Report will be published in June 2007, but the quarterly reports for 2006 are currently available together with annual and quarterly reports for previous years.

Colombia: Drugs

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on the amount of cocaine seized by the Colombian Government in 2006.

Kim Howells: According to the Colombian Interior Ministry, Colombian security forces seized 130 metric tons of cocaine in 2006. A total of 214,135 hectares of coca cultivation was eradicated.

Home Information Packs

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to ensure that local authorities' charges for searches in relation to home information packs are fair and transparent.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of Fair Trading in its market study of property searches recommended that, if local authorities (LAs) were to set their own fees for property searches, then central government should provide clear guidance to them on how they should recover costs and how they should set charges to avoid distorting competition in the supply of property searches.
	To address this, communities and local government in its consultation paper, 'HIP Update: Toward 1 June' published in January 2007, announced that it would seek tenders for the production of a LA charging methodology with supporting guidance and review local land charge fees. The tendering process is complete and work is now about to commence. A public consultation is planned for later this year on the outcomes.

Housing: Energy

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many accredited  (a) domestic energy assessors and  (b) home inspectors there are within each (i) local authority area and (ii) city in England.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 19 April 2007
	 As at 4 April there were more than 3,500 domestic energy assessor (DEA) candidates in training. In addition, there were over 1,900 who were either at an advanced stage in their training as Home Inspectors (His) or who had completed training. As at 3 May, there are 1902 DEAs and HIs who have passed the relevant exam or exams.
	We conducted a survey—consisting of 1,935 respondents—that showed the following distribution across the country:
	
		
			  Region  Percentage by region 
			 Eastern 11 
			 East Midlands 7 
			 London 8 
			 North East 3 
			 North West 11 
			 South East 19 
			 South West 13 
			 Wales 4 
			 West Midlands 10 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 6 
			 Other 8 
			 Total 100 
		
	
	We do not expect assessors to work within local authority boundaries, as they will work largely by region—in some parts of the country, assessors will work across more than one region—an example being London and the South East.

Unitary Councils

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account her Department has taken of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1992 relating to the process for local government restructuring in formulating proposals for the establishment of unitary status.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the Westminster Hall debate on Local Government (Cornwall) on 18 April 2007,  Official Report, column 139WH; when issuing the Invitation to Councils and conducting the stakeholder consultation, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, is acting under her wide prerogative powers.

Departments: ICT

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the  (a) originally estimated,  (b) most recently estimated and  (c) outturn cost was of each of the five largest information technology contracts agreed by her Department with outside suppliers in the last five years, as referred to in the answer of 24 May 2006,  Official Report, column 1837W, on information technology.

Vera Baird: For my Department, the five relevant IT contracts are with Atos Origin, LogicaCMG, Fujitsu Services; STL and Accenture.
	 (a) The originally estimated costs of these contracts are:
	Atos Origin (IT Infrastructure Management): £3 02 million
	LogicaCMG (IT Applications Management): £162 million: both the aforementioned were tendered in October 2006 over seven years;
	Fujitsu Services (magistrates courts IT systems) was tendered in July 2002 for £232 million over 8.5 years;
	STL (magistrates courts IT systems): £38.5 million;
	Accenture (magistrates courts IT systems): £36 million.
	 (b) and  (c) All these contracts are ongoing and some will be subject to value for money contract re-negotiation. Therefore outturn costs do not apply. The current values of each of the contracts are as follows:
	Atos Origin: £298.4 million
	LogicaCMG: £158.2 million
	Fujitsu Services: £232 million
	STL: £38.5 million
	Accenture: £36 million

Health Education: Advertising

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what public health advertising campaigns were undertaken by her Department in each of the last five years; and what the total costs were of such campaigns;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of each of the public health advertising campaigns undertaken by her Department since 2002.

Ivan Lewis: The following table outlines the cost of Departmental campaigns undertaken to improve public health since April 2001.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Campaign  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Antibiotics 0.78 0.59 1.02 — 0.39 
			 CALM 0.38 0.58 0.43 0.44 0.32 
			 Drugs — 1.80 1.75 1.33 4.40 
			 Flu 1.45 2.40 1.95 2.25 2.32 
			 Hepatitis C — — 0.15 0.70 1.28 
			 Immunisation 1.67 2.36 3.63 3.10 1.35 
			 Mental Health, Mind Out 0.97 1.01 1.62 — — 
			 Sexwise/teenage pregnancy 2.44 1.97 2.15 — — 
			 Sexual health 0.30 1.50 1.60 1.27 0.62 
			 Smoking 12.30 11.56 23.41 26.50 30.50 
			 TB awareness 0.30 0.09 0.01 0.20 — 
			 5 A DAY 0.50 0.48 1.03 0.90 0.92 
			  Note: DH contribution to Frank substance misuse campaign jointly funded by Department of Health, Home Office and Department for Education and Skills 
		
	
	Each campaign is only one of a number of interventions in the drive to improve public health. It is not possible to separate the impact of these campaigns from that of other interventions or factors which may have influenced public behaviour over the period in question.
	 Antibiotics
	As a result of an increase in the number of strains of bacteria developing resistance the Department launched a publicity campaign, aimed at health professionals and the general public, in 1999-2000 to encourage sensible prescribing and use of antibiotics.
	The ongoing publicity campaigns inform the public not to routinely expect antibiotics for coughs and colds as antibiotics only work on bacterial infections, and not on most coughs and colds or viral infections. As well as posters and leaflets we also provided general practitioners (GPs) with pads of non-prescription forms that could be given to patients explaining why the doctor was not prescribing an antibiotic.
	Evaluations have shown that the public has understood the key messages and we believe that they will have contributed to the decrease in antibiotic prescribing in the community.
	 Calm
	The suicide rate in young men is conning down but we do not have direct evidence of the effect or influence of the Calm campaign on that reduction.
	This Departmental campaign came to and end on 31 March 2006. From 1 April 2006 Calm became a charity, not sponsored by the Department.
	 Drugs
	The FRANK drugs information campaign funded jointly by the Department, the Home Office and the Department for Education and Skills targets young people aged 11 to 21 years, particularly vulnerable young people, and the parents or carers of 11-18 year olds. It provides a gateway for information and advice about the effects and risks of drugs, local treatment services and drugs and the law.
	The campaign contributes towards the Department's public service agreement (PSA) target to increase the participation of problem drug users in drug treatment programmes by 100 per cent. by 2008 (from 1998) and increase year-on-year the proportion of users successfully sustaining or completing treatment programmes.
	The PSA target was exceeded in 2005-06 with 181,390 users going in to treatment. The FRANK campaign is now placing particular emphasis on meeting the needs of vulnerable young people as well as supporting a wider programme of activity in support of the joint Department for Education and Skills and Home Office target to reduce the numbers of young people using drugs.
	In the two years to April 2006 the "talktofrank" campaign website received over 10 million hits with 500,000 hits to its treatment pages. Over the same period the FRANK helpline received 1.6 million calls and answered 107,000 emails. The helpline has directed over 45,000 young people to treatment services.
	 Flu
	The seasonal influenza campaign in the United Kingdom has made considerable progress in increasing the coverage of the at-risk and target population, set against the WHO 2010 target of 75 per cent. The UK has already achieved this target and among European countries is one of the highest achievers.
	 Hepatitis C awareness campaign (FaCe It)
	One of the main aims of the hepatitis C awareness campaign (FaCe It) is to increase diagnosis and there are two national outcome indicators, drawn from epidemiological surveillance by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), intended to track this.
	The first indicator is the total number of laboratory confirmed hepatitis C infection reports. There has been a significant increase in hepatitis C diagnoses in England reported to the HPA through national surveillance from around 5,600 in 2002 to around 7,600 in 2005.
	The second indicator is the proportion of injecting drug users attending treatment and support agencies who are aware of their hepatitis C infection. The proportion of those who are aware of their hepatitis C infection has increased from 42 per cent. in 2002 to 52 per cent. in 2005.
	Research into awareness among general practitioners/practices nurses and the public indicates that awareness of hepatitis C has increased since the campaign began.
	 Immunisation programme
	The routine immunisation programme in the United Kingdom aims to protect all babies and children from the age of two months onwards. The serious diseases that the programme protects against include—diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), polio, meningitis C, pneumococcal infection, measles, mumps, rubella.
	The impact of advertising and other communication materials are regularly monitored through public surveys involving around 2,000 parents each year. From this we know that more than 70 per cent. of parents use our printed material and that recall of television advertising is high. Health professionals have a high awareness of, and positive reactions to the Departmental/immunisation information materials available.
	 Mind Out for mental health
	In March 2001, the Department launched a national campaign, mind out for mental health, aimed at tackling the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health problems. The campaign was aimed at key groups such as employers, the media and young people; as well as the public in general, to help raise awareness of mental health issues and put an end to stigma and discrimination. This campaign came to an end on 31 March 2004. We believe the campaign has been a positive presence but do not have direct evidence of any impact on health indicators.
	 Teenage pregnancy
	Work around reducing teenage pregnancy is based on a number of different strands, one of which is the national campaigning work. It is therefore impossible to separate out these strands when it comes to assessing the overall effectiveness of the work. Teenage pregnancy rates are falling. Between the 1998 baseline year and 2004 (the latest year for which data are available) the under-18 conception rate has fallen by 11.1 per cent. and the under-16 rate has fallen by 15.2 per cent. Both rates are now at their lowest level for 20 years,.
	 Sexual Health
	Evaluation of the sex lottery campaign December 2002 to December 2004, focused primarily on campaign recognition, perceptions about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and condom usage.
	In terms of awareness of advertising re STIs, non promoted awareness increased from 35 per cent. at the start to 53 per cent. by the end of the campaign.
	In addition there were some significant shifts in attitudes to STIs throughout the life of the campaign in particular in terms of potential risk (The risk of getting an STI has increased by 11 per cent.) and in terms of protection (It doesn't matter how many partners someone has as long as they're careful i.e. use a condom has increased by 9 per cent.)
	These changes in attitude are being built on as part of the new adult sexual health campaign, Condom Essential Wear, which was launched in November 2006. Based on social marketing principles the new campaign aims to bring about positive behavioural change in regards sexual health.
	Behavioural change takes time and will therefore need to be measured over a number of years. Attitudes and behavioural indicators were benchmarked in November 2006 and the fieldwork for the first phase of campaign evaluation is due to commence in early March 2007.
	 Smoking
	A comprehensive strategy to tackle smoking and to reduce the deaths caused by smoking has been in place since publication of Smoking Kills in 1998. The strategy focuses on action to discourage people from starting to smoke and to provide support for all smokers, of whatever age and sex, who wish to quit. We are aiming to create a climate where non-smoking is the norm.
	We have banned almost all tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion; introduced strong tobacco pack health warnings; from December 1999 run highly effective national anti-smoking education campaigns raising awareness of the health damage of smoking and secondhand smoke. People who wish to give up smoking can get help from the national health service stop smoking—a world leading programme we set up.
	In 2006, Parliament passed the Health Act which includes provision for the prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces. This will mean every pub, club, membership club, cafe, restaurant, shopping centre, office and public and work transport will become smoke-free on Sunday 1 July 2007, when the legislation is implemented.
	The Government's strategy has helped reduce smoking rates in England from 28 per cent. in 1998 to 24 per cent. in terms of 2005 populations, the latest year for which figures are available, meaning around 1.6 million fewer smokers in England. These are the lowest smoking rates in England on record and indicate that the Government are on track to meet the PSA target of 21 per cent. or lower smoking prevalence in 2010.
	 Tuberculosis (TB)
	In March 2002, the Department launched a national TB Awareness campaign aimed at tackling the stigma and discrimination faced by people with TB. The campaign was launched by celebrities John Fashanu and Patti Boulaye and was aimed at key groups such as Black and Minority Ethnic groups, health professionals, the media; as well as the public in general, to help raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of TB and put an end to stigma and discrimination. Awareness raising for TB is ongoing.
	We believe the campaign has been a positive presence but do not have direct evidence of any impact on health indicators.
	 5 A DAY
	The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs annual Household Expenditure Survey for 2005-06 (published January 2007) recorded the biggest increase in fruit and vegetables purchases (7.7 per cent.) for over 20 years. This was aligned to a 6 per cent. decrease in confectionary sales.
	The Food Standards Agency Consumer Attitudes Survey 2005 showed that 67 per cent. of people are now aware that they should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, up from 43 per cent. in 2000.
	The 5 A DAY logo was launched by Department on 25 March 2003; over 550 organisations are licensed to use it. The 5 A DAY logo now appears on over 700 fruit and vegetable products in shops and restaurants.

Health Services: Training

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the indicative budget is for multi-professional education and training (MPET) in 2007-08; what advice she has given to strategic health authorities on top slicing this budget for strategic reserves; and what estimate she has made of the amount to be top-sliced from the MPT budget in 2007-08.

Rosie Winterton: The indicative budget for the multi-professional education and training (MPET) in 2007-08 is £4.3 billion, a 3.6 per cent. increase on the 2006-07 indicative budget. No advice has been given to strategic health authorities on top slicing this budget for strategic reserves. Therefore no estimates have been made of the amount that might be top-sliced by strategic heath authorities from the MPET budget in 2007-08.

Mental Patients

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to improve handling of patients with dementia in general hospitals through  (a) training of nursing staff,  (b) increasing awareness of the impact on other patients,  (c) use of volunteers to support professionals and  (d) sharing best practice.

Ivan Lewis: Improving the skills and competencies of all staff in acute settings but particularly those who care for people with dementia is one of the priorities in the Department's older people's mental health programme. In 2006, Lets Respect, an innovative resource tool, went out to acute general hospitals throughout England. This tool is part of a range of educational training and support tools aimed at helping qualified nurses, teach health care assistants and student nurses to recognise and respond to the needs of older people with mental health problems.
	In addition to this, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and Social Care Institute for Excellence recently published clinical guideline for dementia. This gives a comprehensive summary of good practice in dementia care that is applicable in all care settings.
	Volunteer schemes in hospital settings are the responsibility of local trusts. This includes local recruitment, screening for suitability and training of volunteers who are an important part of the caring work force.
	With regards to training, post-registration training needs for national health service staff are determined against local NHS priorities, through appraisal processes and training needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service. It is the responsibility of NHS trusts to ensure that their employees are suitably qualified and competent.

NHS Treatment Centres: Private Sector

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 1476-77W, on NHS Treatment Centres: private sector, how many procedures were performed by each independent sector treatment centre in each month since October 2003; and how many procedures each independent sector treatment centre is contracted to provide over the lifetime of the wave one contract.

Andy Burnham: Information on wave 1 independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Wave 1 ISTCs—discharges (procedures) per month 
			   Total discharges at February 2007  Total procedures expected over the contract period 
			 Eccleshill NHS Treatment Centre 8,948 29,566 
			 Midlands NHS Treatment Centre 3,068 60,891 
			 Barlborough NHS Treatment Centre 7,194 21,449 
			 Daventry NHS Treatment Centre 5,157 4,199 
			 Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre 14,736 56,242 
			 Greater Manchester Surgical Centre 11,098 44,863 
			 Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre 5,550 16,511 
			 Bodmin NHS Treatment Centre 3,029 26,525 
			 Boston NHS Treatment Centre 2,006 7,255 
			 Gainsborough NHS Treatment Centre 1,606 6,315 
			 Clifton Park NHS Treatment Centre 1,986 8,638 
			 Cobalt NHS Treatment Centre 3,383 9,551 
			 Capio New Hall NHS Treatment Centre 2,684 11,829 
			 Reading NHS Treatment Centre(1) 345 5,935 
			 Blakelands NHS Treatment Centre(1) 3,040 8,292 
			 Horton NHS Treatment Centre(1) 198 3,624 
			 Kidderminster NHS Treatment Centre 3,209 9,000 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside NHS Treatment Centre 2,204 24,817 
			 Mid Kent NHS Treatment Centre 1,840 55,117 
			 North East London NHS Treatment Centre 340 56,030 
			 St. Mary's NHS Treatment Centre 3,421 34,218 
			 Will Adams NHS Treatment Centre 2,171 19,770 
			 Sussex Orthopaedics NHS Treatment Centre 1,902 26,438 
			 Opthalmic Chain, Mobile Units 25,280 44,735 
			 (1 )Figures are subject to final reconciliation with the provider.  Notes: Figures are for operational wave 1 ISTCs and exclude centrally procured contracts such as Gsupp, MRI, CWiCs etc. and any diagnostic services delivered by ISTCs.

NHS: Allowances

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health further to the answer of 8 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2214W, on NHS: allowances, if she will provide a breakdown of the types of items which she expects the allowance to cover; and what methodology her Department used to calculate the £19.60 figure.

Ivan Lewis: The personal expenses allowance (PEA) was increased to £20.45 with effect from 9 April 2007. The PEA is provided for care home residents to have money to spend, as they wish. The Department has not, therefore, specified what items this money should be spent on other than to say that the PEA cannot be used to pay for services which should be provided as part of the care the home is contracted to provide.
	The PEA was set many years ago at a level that was felt to be appropriate. Since then the methodology used for setting the level of PEA has been to increase it annually in line with average earnings so that it maintains its value.
	In 2006 the Department held a number of meetings with key stakeholders representing care home residents, to discuss a range of issues relating to charging for residential care, including the PEA. Stakeholders involved have included voluntary organisations such as Age Concern, Help the Aged, the Nursing Home Fees Agency, the Relatives and Residents Association and MENCAP. There will be a further meeting with them before any recommendations are put to Ministers.
	The Government are committed to a system of charging for residential care that is fair to residents, their families, taxpayers and is sustainable. Ministers will take these and other factors, including stakeholders views, into account in deciding whether to make any change to the level of PEA.

NHS: Consultants

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many consultant-to-consultant referrals there were in 2005-06, broken down by primary care trust.

Andy Burnham: Data on consultant-to-consultant referrals is not collected centrally. Data is collected on general practitioners referrals and other referrals. The category other referrals includes consultant-to-consultant referrals as well as referrals from allied health professionals, nurses, etc. The data on other referrals is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of other referrals for first out-patient appointment, all specialties, primary care trusts (PCT) in England, 2005-06—commissioner based 
			  Code  Name  Other referrals 
			 5A3 South Gloucestershire PCT 18,018 
			 5A4 Havering PCT 32,580 
			 5A5 Kingston PCT 17,475 
			 5A7 Bromley PCT 15,896 
			 5A8 Greenwich Teaching PCT 24,678 
			 5A9 Barnet PCT 22,754 
			 SAN North East Lincolnshire PCT 16,956 
			 SAT Hillingdon PCT 17,591 
			 SCI Enfield PCT 35,726 
			 5C2 Barking And Dagenham PCT 21,169 
			 5C3 City And Hackney Teaching PCT 33,649 
			 5C4 Tower Hamlets PCT 31,453 
			 5C5 Newham PCT 35,000 
			 5C9 Haringey Teaching PCT 42,158 
			 5CC Blackburn With Darwen PCT 14,192 
			 5CN Herefordshire PCT 10,798 
			 5CQ Milton Keynes PCT 16,169 
			 5D7 Newcastle PCT 38,487 
			 5D8 North Tyneside PCT 26,182 
			 5D9. Hartlepool PCT 7,282 
			 5E1 North Tees PCT 17,458 
			 5EF North Lincolnshire PCT 18,987 
			 5EM Nottingham City PCT 37,441 
			 SET Bassetlaw PCT 11,708 
			 5F1 Plymouth Teaching PCT 13,504 
			 5F5 Salford PCT 36,637 
			 5F7 Stockport PCT 41,000 
			 5FE Portsmouth City Teaching PCT 17,407 
			 5FL Bath And North East Somerset PCT 17,497 
			 5GC Luton PCT 11,829 
			 5H1 Hammersmith And Fulham PCT 17,739 
			 5H8 Rotherham PCT 32,196 
			 5HG Ashton, Leigh And Wigan PCT 40,919 
			 5HP Blackpool PCT 15,828 
			 5HQ Bolton PCT 29,564 
			 5HX Ealing PCT 36,516 
			 SHY Hounslow PCT 26,128 
			 5J2 Warrington PCT 15,398 
			 5J4 Knowsley PCT 21,011 
			 5J5 Oldham PCT 22,601 
			 5J6 Calderdale PCT 20,884 
			 5J9 Darlington PCT 9,066 
			 5JE Barnsley PCT 31,763 
			 5JX Bury PCT 17,071 
			 5K3 Swindon PCT 15,326 
			 5K5 Brent Teaching PCT 19,987 
			 5K6 Harrow PCT 11,993 
			 5K7 Camden PCT 20,170 
			 5K8 Islington PCT 39,644 
			 5K9 Croydon PCT 27,349 
			 5KF Gateshead PCT 25,536 
			 5KG South Tyneside PCT 15,678 
			 5KL Sunderland Teaching PCT 38,071 
			 5KM Middlesbrough PCT 17,268 
			 5L1 Southampton City PCT 21,812 
			 5L3 Medway PCT 22,236 
			 5LA Kensington And Chelsea PCT 16,359 
			 5LC Westminster PCT 22,721 
			 5LD Lambeth PCT 33,581 
			 5LE Southwark PCT 30,457 
			 5LF Lewisham PCT 29,517 
			 5LG Wandsworth PCT 27,144 
			 5LH Tameside And Glossop PCT 27,767 
			 5LQ Brighton And Hove City PCT 20,265 
			 5M1 South Birmingham PCT 36,152 
			 5M2 Shropshire County PCT 27,310 
			 5M3 Walsall Teaching PCT 22,250 
			 5M6 Richmond And Twickenham PCT 19,204 
			 5M7 Sutton And Merton PCT 31,859 
			 5M8 North Somerset PCT 19,056 
			 5MD Coventry Teaching PCT 47,457 
			 5MK Telford And Wrekin PCT 17,791 
			 5MV Wolverhampton City PCT 31,081 
			 5MX Heart Of Birmingham Teaching PCT 27,804 
			 5N1 Leeds PCT 84,565 
			 5N2 Kirklees PCT 37,505 
			 5N3 Wakefield District PCT 23,950 
			 5N4 Sheffield PCT 55,058 
			 5N5 Doncaster PCT 40,785 
			 5N6 Derbyshire County PCT 61,517 
			 5N7 Derby City PCT 23,385 
			 5N8 Nottinghamshire County PCT 67,098 
			 5N9 Lincolnshire PCT 53,885 
			 SNA Redbridge PCT 30,880 
			 5NC Waltham Forest PCT 23,534 
			 5ND County Durham PCT 54,369 
			 5NE Cumbria PCT 36,819 
			 5NF North Lancashire PCT 27,896 
			 5NG Central Lancashire PCT 39,793 
			 5NH East Lancashire PCT 54,244 
			 5NJ Sefton PCT 36,558 
			 5NK Wirral PCT 30,772 
			 5NL Liverpool PCT 103,608 
			 5NM Halton And St Helens PCT 26,576 
			 5NN Western Cheshire PCT 34,286 
			 5NP Central And Eastern Cheshire PCT 43,383 
			 5NQ Heywood, Middleton And Rochdale PCT 19,738 
			 5NR Trafford PCT 29,995 
			 5NT Manchester PCT 91,009 
			 5NV North Yorkshire And York PCT 73,464 
			 5NW East Riding Of Yorkshire PCT 23,941 
			 5NX Hull PCT 24,562 
			 5NY Bradford And Airedale PCT 29,325 
			 5P1 South East Essex PCT 33,929 
			 5P2 Bedfordshire PCT 25,402 
			 5P3 East And North Hertfordshire PCT 50,196 
			 5P4 West Hertfordshire PCT 31,875 
			 5P5 Surrey PCT 76,455 
			 5P6 West Sussex PCT 79,010 
			 5P7 East Sussex Downs And Weald PCT 19,652 
			 5P8 Hastings And Rother PCT 13,030 
			 5P9 West Kent PCT 56,404 
			 SPA Leicestershire County And Rutland PCT 81,044 
			 5PC Leicester City PCT 45,553 
			 5PD Northamptonshire PCT 44,083 
			 5PE Dudley PCT 18,809 
			 5PF Sandwell PCT 29,745 
			 5PG Birmingham East And North PCT 61,357 
			 5PH North Staffordshire PCT 14,290 
			 5PJ Stoke On Trent PCT 22,789 
			 5PK South Staffordshire PCT 67,032 
			 5PL Worcestershire PCT 33,493 
			 5PM Warwickshire PCT 42,159 
			 5PN Peterborough PCT 17,567 
			 5PP Cambridgeshire PCT 62,267 
			 5PQ Norfolk PCT 47,613 
			 5PR Great Yarmouth And Waveney PCT 15,362 
			 5PT Suffolk PCT 71,337 
			 5PV West Essex PCT 24,626 
			 5PW North East Essex PCT 24,746 
			 5PX Mid Essex PCT 42,903 
			 SPY South West Essex PCT 49,458 
			 5QA Eastern And Coastal Kent PCT 70,644 
			 5QC Hampshire PCT 110,977 
			 5QD Buckinghamshire PCT 27,042 
			 5QE Oxfordshire PCT 53,175 
			 5QF Berkshire West PCT 24,568 
			 5QG Berkshire East PCT 24,412 
			 5QH Gloucestershire PCT 45,696 
			 5QJ Bristol PCT 43,727 
			 5QK Wiltshire PCT 34,649 
			 5QL Somerset PCT 39,343 
			 5QM Dorset PCT 28,537 
			 5QN Bournemouth And Poole PCT 47,182 
			 5QP Cornwall And Isles Of Scilly PCT 40,160 
			 5QQ Devon PCT 56,127 
			 5QR Redcar And Cleveland PCT 14,364 
			 5QT Isle Of Wight NHS Pet 17,664 
			 TAG Northumberland Care Trust 33,180 
			 TAK Bexley Care Trust 11,997 
			 TAL Torbay Care Trust 13,458 
			 TAM Solihull Care Trust 31,343 
			
			  England 5,054,141 
			  Note: Consultant-to-consultant referrals are included in other referrals along with all remaining referrals that were not GP written referrals such as referrals from an A and E Department; referral from Prosthetist.  Source: Department of Health Outturn Collection

Testicular Cancer: Testosterone

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her Department's policy is on testing men for low testosterone following treatment for testicular cancer.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has not issued guidance on testing men for low testosterone following treatment for testicular cancer.
	In the majority of cases, men who have one testicle removed because of testicular cancer do not experience problems with low testosterone levels. Men who have both testicles removed will usually need some form of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Some men who have received chemotherapy for the treatment of their testicular cancer may also develop problems related to low testosterone levels.
	The range for normal testosterone levels is very wide and that this can create difficulties in assessing what constitutes sufficiently low testosterone levels for TRT to be required.
	The Department is aware that a working party of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Radiologists is currently preparing guidance on this topic.
	This is an issue which will also be considered alongside other long-term survivorship issues as part of the cancer reform strategy.
	Any man who is concerned about low testosterone levels should consult their clinician.

Departments: Marketing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1064W, on Departments: marketing, if he will place in the Library  (a) a copy of the guidelines issued to staff on maintaining his Department's corporate identity and  (b) a copy of the final 2004 report on the review of his Department's corporate image.

Anne McGuire: As requested, a copy of the DWP Brand Identity Guidelines has been placed in the Library.
	The Department carried out a review of its corporate identity and supporting brands in 2004. This was conducted by the Central Office of Information (COI) and comprised of research, which led to the development of a revised strategy on the use of our brands. This work helped to rationalise our existing brands, the purpose being to improve the customers' experience of the Department and its agencies. This resulted in changes to our corporate identity, which cost £92,751 to implement. A summary of the research report will be placed in the House.

Departments: Pressure Groups

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings took place between Ministers and outside interest groups between 1 January and 31 March; and what the date of each such meeting was.

Anne McGuire: The following tables detail all meeting with outside interest groups between 1 January and 31 March 2007.
	
		
			  Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
			  Date of meeting  Outside interest group  Reason for meeting 
			 25 January 2007 Meeting with the lead of the Lyons Review To discuss council tax benefit 
			 29 January 2007 Fathers Direct To discuss child poverty 
			 22 February 2007 Directgov. General discussion 
			 22 February 2007 Daycare Trust. To discuss child poverty 
			 22 February 2007 One parent Families To discuss child poverty 
			 6 March 2007 Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion. To discuss the Freud Review 
			 13 March 2007 MENCAP To discuss disabled children, carers and poverty issues 
			 27 March 2007 Social Market Foundation To discuss data sharing 
			 27 March 2007 UFI, University for industry To discuss the skills agenda 
			 29 March 2007 America Works To discuss Welfare to Work 
		
	
	
		
			  Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform 
			  Date of meeting  Outside interest group  Reason for meeting 
			 1 January 2007 Terence Higgins Trust To discuss Welfare Reform 
			 11 January 2007 Christian Socialist Movement To discuss role of faith based groups in Welfare Reform 
			 18 January 2007 Carter & Carter To discuss employability and skills 
			 25 January 2007 RADAR To discuss Welfare Reform Bill/RADAR's 'Doing Work Different' project/review of benefit system 
			 1 February 2007 Terence Higgins Trust To discuss Welfare Reform 
			 20 February 2007 Policy and Services Disability Alliance RADAR National Association for Mental Health Rethink To discuss Freud review 
			 20 February 2007 Business Commission To discuss ethnic minority employment 
			 22 February 2007 Age Concern Third Age Employment Network National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers Citizen's Advice Bureau Employment Related Services Association Confederation of British Industry To discuss Freud review 
			 22 February 2007 One Parent Families To discuss lone parents and child poverty 
			 26 February 2007 Save the Children London Child Poverty Commission Federation of Small Businesses Child Poverty Action Group To discuss child poverty 
			 28 February 2007 Elizabeth Finn Care Trust To discuss National Information Centre 
			 5 March 2007 One Parent Families Working Links Work Directions UK Reed IPPR To discuss the Fraud Report 
			 13 March 2007 Social Enterprise Coalition To discuss social enterprise 
			 14 March 2007 Day Care Trust To discuss child poverty and child care 
			 14 March 2007 MacMillan Cancer Support To discuss the Welfare Reform Bill 
		
	
	
		
			  Minister for Pension Reform 
			  Date of meeting  Outside interest group  Reason for meeting 
			 17 January 2007 Canadian Pensioners Alliance To discuss pensions uprating—overseas 
			 17 January 2007 Standard Life To discuss personal accounts 
			 5 March 2007 Resolution Foundation To discuss pension reform 
			 5 March 2007 Bank of England To discuss occupational pensions 
			 12 March 2007 Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF) To discuss personal accounts 
			 14 March 2007 Trade Union Congress To discuss personal accounts 
			 15 March 2007 Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) To discuss personal accounts 
			 15 March 2007 Age Concern To discuss personal accounts 
			 15 March 2007 Carers UK To discuss personal accounts 
			 15 March 2007 Help the Aged To discuss personal accounts 
			 15 March 2007 Pension Policy Institute To discuss personal accounts 
			 15 March 2007 Federation Small Business To discuss personal accounts 
		
	
	
		
			  Parliamentary Under Secretary—House of Lords 
			  Date of Meeting  Outside Interest Group  Reason for meeting 
			 24 January 2007 Trades Union Congress To discuss health and safety 
			 31 January 2007 Sane, Rethink, Disability Alliance, Royal National Institute of the Blind, National Autistic Society, Leonard Cheshire, MacMillan Cancer, Judy Scott Consultancy, Mencap, Arthritis care, Disability Matters, Medical Scientist, Mencap, Mind To discuss Welfare reform 
			 1 February 2007 Shelter, Citizens Advice Bureau, National Housing Federation, Local Authority Association, Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities, London Councils, Chartered Institute of Housing To discuss welfare reform 
			 1 February 2007 Child Poverty Action Group, Royal National Institute of the Blind, Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Trade Unions Congress, Disability Alliance, Coalition against the Welfare Reform Bill, RADAR To discuss welfare reform 
			 6 February 2007 Nottinghamshire County Drug and Alcohol Action Team To discuss financial support for grandparents caring for grandchildren where their parents are affected by drug abuse. 
			 26 February 2007 The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health To discuss vocational rehabilitation 
			 5 March 2007 Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF) To discuss health and safety 
			 6 March 2007 Confederation for the Registration of Gas Installers (CORGI) To discuss gas safety 
			 8 March 2007 Hazards To discuss health and safety 
			 14 March 2007 Energy Retail Association (ERA) To discuss health and safety/gas safety 
			 15 March 2007 One Parent Families To discuss child maintenance 
			 26 March 2007 Trade Union Congress To discuss health and safety 
			 27 March 2007 Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (AVECO) To discuss mental health and employment 
			 29 March 2007 Britain's General Union (GMB) To discuss health and safety 
		
	
	
		
			  Parliamentary Under Secretary—House of Commons 
			  Date of meeting  Outside interest group  Reason for meeting 
			 26 February 2007 Money Advice Trust To discuss financial inclusion 
		
	
	
		
			  Parliamentary Under Secretary (Disabled People) - House of Commons 
			 Date of meeting Outside interest group Reason for meeting 
			 10 January 2007 Rehabilitation Council To discuss potential support 
			 15 January 2007 SENSE To meet Sense staff and to discuss Access to Work and suggest how it could be improved 
			 31 January 2007 CARERS UK To discuss the complex realities of Carers lives and the long term strategy to improve carers opportunities and ability to access employment 
			 7 February 2007 Joseph Rowntree Foundation To discuss social care funding 
			 8 March 2007 British Paralympic Association To discuss post 2012 Olympic legacy 
			 8 March 2007 Dial UK To discuss financial difficulties faced by user-led organisations

Means-tested Benefits

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were on means-tested benefits in each of the last 15 years; what assessment he has made of the merits of means testing; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: Income-related benefits are intended to help those people whose resources are insufficient to meet their day-to-day living expenses. By relating a claimant's income to their entitlement to these benefits, we can ensure that help is available to those who most need it.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Income-related benefit recipients: Great Britain, at May each year 1990 to 2004 
			   Number 
			 1990 7,910,000 
			 1991 7,760,000 
			 1992 8,150,000 
			 1993 8,250,000 
			 1994 8,220,000 
			 1995 8,160,000 
			 1996 7,970,000 
			 1997 7,530,000 
			 1998 7,190,000 
			 1999 6,970,000 
			 2000 6,660,000 
			 2001 6,470,000 
			 2002 6,290,000 
			 2003 6,250,000 
			 2004 6,480,000 
			  Notes: 1. Income-related benefits are: income support; income-based jobseeker's allowance; pension credit; housing benefit; and community charge benefit/council tax benefit. 2. Overlaps between benefits have been removed. 3. Due to the estimation procedure used to remove the overlaps between housing benefit and council tax benefit, figures have been rounded to the nearest 10,000. 4. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 5. Income support and jobseeker's allowance 5 per cent. figures have been uprated using 5 per cent. proportions against 100 per cent. totals of WPLS data. 6. Housing benefit data excludes any extended payment cases. 7. Council tax benefit data excludes second adult rebate cases. 8. Jobseeker's allowance replaced income support for the unemployed in October 1996. 9. Pension credit replaced minimum income guarantee in October 2003.  Source: Information Directorate, 1 per cent. and 5 per cent. samples; 100 per cent. Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study; Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. Sample.

Pensions: Automated Credit Transfer

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners received their pension  (a) via direct debit into their bank accounts and  (b) through Post Office accounts in the latest month for which data is available.

James Plaskitt: The following table shows how many pensioners received their state retirement pension  (a) via Direct Payment into their bank accounts and  (b) through Post Office card accounts in March 2007.
	
		
			   Number 
			 Direct Payment 7,736,200 
			 Post Office card account 1,761,930 
			  Notes: 1. Figures have been provided by DWP Information Directorate 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Figures are taken from the latest available data at 17 March 2007. 4. Figures only relate to accounts live and in payment on the specified date. 5. People with more than one benefit account paid through POca are counted more than once.

State Retirement Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in retirement benefits in total to  (a) couples,  (b) single men and  (c) single women where the recipients were aged (i) 60 to 64, (ii) 65 to 69, (iii) 70 to 74, (iv) 75 to 79 and (v) over 79 years in the latest period for which figures are available.

James Purnell: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Total expenditure on pensioner benefits by family type 
			  £ million 
			  Age group  Single men  Single women  Couples  All 
			 60-64 602 2,812 4,407 7,821 
			 65-69 2,106 3,296 9,368 14,770 
			 70-74 1,837 3,736 7,575 13,148 
			 75-79 1,593 4,258 5,324 11,175 
			 Over 80 2,906 9,025 3,937 15,868 
			 Total 9,044 23,127 30,611 62,782 
			  Notes: 1. The pensioner benefit figures include expenditure on state pension, bereavement benefits for pensioners, pension credit and winter fuel payments.  2. The figures are expenditure across Great Britain and have been rounded to the nearest million pounds.  3. Total expenditure on pension benefits is taken from the provisional outturn for 2006-07 as published at Budget 2007.  4. The breakdown of pension credit expenditure between groups is based on the estimated proportions in 2006-07, consistent with Budget 2007 forecasts, projected forward from Departmental Administrative Sources.  5. The breakdown of winter fuel payment expenditure between age groups is based on a 100 per cent. sample of administrative records in 2005-06. Full payments have been broken down by family type using estimated proportions taken from Family Resources Survey 2005-06. Half payments are paid only to couples.  6. For pension credit and winter fuel payments a couple is defined as two people who are married or cohabiting. For state pension and, bereavement benefits for pensioners, the definition of a couple is people who are married. Single people are all those who are not married (including those who may be widowed or divorced). The classification of marital status is based on an indicator on the dataset which has some known reliability issues and so may not be entirely accurate.  7. Expenditure on couples has been allocated to age groups according to the age of the partner actually receiving each payment; except for pension credit, where the expenditure cannot be allocated to individual partners, so the age of the elder partner is used.  8. The expenditure for men aged 60-64 are for pension credit and winter fuel payments only. State pension is paid only to men over state pension age, i.e. aged 65 years and over. Only bereavement benefits paid to those over state pension age are included.   Source:  Departmental Administrative Sources. Provisional out-turn accounting data for 2006-07 as published for Budget 2007. Family Resources Survey 2005-06.

Average Earnings

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average hourly pay was of the  (a) (i) lowest and (ii) highest decile,  (b) (A) lowest and (B) highest quartile and  (c) (I) lowest and (II) highest duo-decile as a percentage of the (x) average hourly pay and (y) average weekly wage of working people in employment in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 8 May 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average hourly pay was of (a) (i) lowest and (ii) highest decile, (b) (A) lowest and (B) highest quartile and (c) (I) lowest and (II) highest duo-decile, as a percentage of (x) average hourly pay and (y) average weekly wage of working people in employment in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (136393)
	Levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect information on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.
	I attach tables showing the 5th, 10th, 25th, 75th, 90th and 95th percentile of Gross Hourly Pay, corresponding to the lowest duo-decile, lowest decile, lowest quartile, highest quartile, highest decile, and highest duo-decile respectively, for all employees, for the years 1997-2006. The tables also show the median average hourly pay, and weekly wage in each year since 1997, and the percentage of these values that the percentiles represent.
	The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
	
		
			  Gross hourly earnings for all employee ( 1)  jobs 
			  £ 
			  UK  5th percentile  10th percentile  25th percentile  75th percentile  90th percentile  95th percentile 
			 1997 3.35 3.81 4.96 10.64 5.29 18.98 
			 1998 3.50 4.00 5.13 11.12 5.96 19.98 
			 1999 3.75 4.18 5.36 11.55 6.69 20.96 
			 2000 3.96 4.36 5.56 12.03 7.27 21.81 
			 2001 4.08 4.53 5.79 12.62 8.27 23.51 
			 2002 4.35 4.78 6.00 13.18 9.21 24.72 
			 2003 4.55 5.01 6.30 13.68 9.93 25.66 
			 2004 excl.(2) 4.77 5.21 6.56 14.28 0.75 26.67 
			 2004 inc.(2) 4.75 5.18 6.50 14.15 20.49 26.15 
			 2005 4.99 5.36 6.71 14.71 21.42 27.38 
			 2006 5.15 5.57 6.99 15.33 22.29 28.45 
		
	
	
		
			  As a percentage of hourly pay 
			   5th percentile  10th percentile  25th percentile  75th percentile  90th percentile  95th percentile  Average hourly pay( 3) 
			 1997 47.4 53.9 70.2 150.5 216.3 268.5 7.07 
			 1998 47.6 54.3 69.7 151.1 216.8 271.5 7.36 
			 1999 49.0 54.6 70.0 150.8 217.9 273.6 7.66 
			 2000 49.9 55.0 70.1 151.7 217.8 275.0 7.93 
			 2001 49.3 54.7 69.9 152.4 220.7 283.9 8.28 
			 2002 50.5 55.5 69.6 152.9 222.9 286.8 8.62 
			 2003 50.8 56.0 70.4 152.8 222.7 286.7 8.95 
			 2004 excl.(2) 51.0 55.7 70.2 152.7 221.9 285.2 9.35 
			 2004 inc.(2) 51.3 55.9 70.2 152.8 221.3 282.4 9.26 
			 2005 52.2 56.1 70.2 153.9 224.1 286.4 9.56 
			 2006 51.8 56.0 70.3 154.1 224.0 285.9 9.95 
		
	
	
		
			  As a percentage of hourly pay 
			   5th percentile  10th percentile  25th percentile  75th percentile  90th percentile  95th percentile  Average hourly pay( 4) 
			 1997 1.2 1.4 1.8 4.0 5.7 7.1 268.9 
			 1998 1.2 1.4 1.8 4.0 5.7 7.1 280.2 
			 1999 1.3 1.4 1.8 4.0 5.8 7.2 290.0 
			 2000 1.3 1.5 1.9 4.0 5.8 7.3 299.6 
			 2001 1.3 1.4 1.9 4.0 5.8 7.5 312.5 
			 2002 1.3 1.5 1.8 4.1 5.9 7.6 324.8 
			 2003 1.4 1.5 1.9 4.1 6.0 7.7 334.8 
			 2004 excl.(2) 1.4 1.5 1.9 4.1 5.9 7.6 349.6 
			 2004 inc.(2) 1.4 1.5 1.9 4.1 5.9 7.6 345.5 
			 2005 1.4 1.5 1.9 4.2 6.1 7.8 349.1 
			 2006 1.4 1.5 1.9 4.2 6.1 7.8 364.1 
			 (1) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence. (2) In 2004 additional supplementary surveys were introduced to improve the coverage of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Figures are presented both excluding and including the additional surveys for comparison purposes. (3) Median gross hourly pay. (4) Median gross weekly pay.  Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Individual Savings Accounts

Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the likely effect on the number of people in Copeland who will establish individual savings accounts as a result announced in the 2007 Budget.

Edward Balls: The Government announced in the pre-Budget report that it will simplify the Individual Saving Account (ISA) regime, making it more flexible for savers and providers and, in order to encourage further saving in ISAs, the Government announced in the Budget that the annual ISA investment limit will rise to £7,200 and the cash limit will rise to £3,600. All changes will come into effect from April 2008.
	The changes to the investment limits announced in the Budget will benefit around 5.5 million individuals in the UK who are currently making full use of either their cash or overall investment limits.
	Estimates of the number of individuals affected are not available at a constituency level.